Surrounded by supporters in the library at Waters Elementary School, Steve Massengale officially announced Tuesday, Dec. 3, he will run for the District 83 seat in the Texas House of Representatives.

Massengale, 44, will face Rep. Charles Perry in the Republican primary March 4. Perry assumed office in January 2011.

“I have a passion for public education, and I also have an inner-working knowledge that Charles can’t bring to the table,” Massengale said in an interview, referring to his current position as president of the Lubbock Independent School District Board of Trustees.

He also said that as a small business owner of Advanced Graphix and The Matador, he understands how the private sector works.

“I’m running because I love this community,” Massengale said. “It’s done so much for my family, and I feel this is the time to stand up and fight for what we believe in. This is one of those times in our country’s history that we should step up and defend those values that we hold dear.”

During the announcement, Massengale drew from the experience of his 10-year-old daughter, Audrey’s, birth with a congenital heart defect, saying it played a part in his decision to run.

“It was those days right after Audrey was born and before she had (heart) surgery and during that surgery ... that had a huge effect on our lives and really a big part of the reason that I stand before you today,” he told his supporters. “The people in this community came out of the woodwork to help us. People came up to the hospital, spent time with us, brought food and just offered their support and prayers. I got to see firsthand the best of what this community has to offer.”

Massengale has had his eyes on state politics for a long time, he said, and feels his experience in LISD has groomed him to make the jump.

“I wasn’t sure when this would come up or when it would be the right time for me, but after much discussion with my family and much prayer, we’ve decided that this is the time to run and this is when it would be good for Lubbock,” Massengale said.

Massengale’s goal to run as a friend of public education and ultimately mend what he calls a “broken” school funding system — in which some districts get paid $12,000 per student and LISD gets $5,300 — has earned strong support from Clinton Gill, organizational development specialist for the Texas State Teachers Association.

“Having worked with Steve for many years on the Lubbock ISD school board, he’s always put the needs of the students and the employees first and has always had an open door policy on meeting with me to discuss issues in the district and take a proactive approach to resolving any issues we may disagree on,” Gill said, clarifying he was expressing his personal opinion and not speaking on behalf of the teachers association.

“His main priority is public education and we need someone in Austin that truly has public education at the forefront of their campaign,” Gill continued. “I look forward to working with his campaign to not only get him elected, but to also make public education in the state of Texas a priority once again.”

Gill said he feels the current leaders in Austin have put public education on the back burner, referencing the $5.4 billion cut from public education funds the legislature made in 2011 which, he pointed out, Perry voted for.

“School districts all across the state had to lay off teachers, lay off essential employees to make schools function,” Gill said. “It really affected student performance across the state. To Steve’s credit, he made it a priority to keep the cuts necessary out of the classroom so student achievement wasn’t affected.”

Massengale said the Legislature’s “take-funds-away-and-add-funds-back” approach puts teachers on a roller coaster and is not a working plan.

“That’s how liberals attack things. Conservatism begs to have a long-term plan, and that’s what I plan to do,” Massengale said. “When Charles cut $5.4 billion out of public (education) in ’11, those are big government solutions. I really want to lead the state of Texas down a long-term plan for public ed.”

The teachers association will endorse a candidate sometime soon, Gill said, but his own mind is already made up.

“I’ll be working on (Massengale’s) campaign and supporting him 100 percent,” he said.

Outside Lubbock County, Massengale will need the support of District 83 constituents in Borden, Gaines, Lynn, Mitchell, Scurry and Terry counties as well to win.

“We plan to spend some time down there,” he said, pointing to a map. “We already have key contacts down there. Windshield time is key.”

Massengale will remain on the school board until May and will not seek re-election.